When Good Men Go To War
by anna becker
Summary: Major Even Lorne and Dr. Emma Brennan had first met several years ago under suspenseful circumstances. Now almost ten years later they find themselves working with each other once again. She a UN investigator and he the second in command military officer in a super secret off world base. What could possibly go wrong?
1. Chapter 1

**So this is my first Stargate Atlantis fanfic and it's been a story I've been mulling over for a while. I'm just finally writing it down. So enjoy and let me know what you think.**

Chapter One:

_Emma's POV _

It was raining, hard. She was soaked and had been lost for three days on another planets version of a rain forest. She was tired, cold and very annoyed. It wasn't the fact that she was lost; it was who she was lost with. She had only been a part of the Atlantis exposition into the Pegasus galaxy for a short time and in that short time she had learned who was good in a crisis and who wasn't. Unfortunately she was with one of the few who was not very gracious during a difficult situation. Dr. Peter Kavanagh was a brilliant man, but he was also arrogant and just plan obnoxious. He had very little respect for other scientist especially if they were women and he made no bones about voicing it. He seemed to have taken an even stronger dislike to her which wasn't really surprising considering what her job entitled. She was an investigator of sorts and also a scientist. Being a forensic archaeologist had its challenges and a lot of people were sometimes weird out when they found out what she did. She really didn't care what others thought, she loved the puzzles of her field, and she loved field work. She was young but also considered one of the top in her field which was why certain people took notice. She was good, very good, to good and this rubbed people the wrong way including her current companion.

They had been sent on a scientific exposition to check out why a thriving civilization had suddenly disappeared. Three months before an Atlantis team had made contact with a group of people who had proven to be good trading partners. Then just as suddenly they seemed to have vanished leaving behind everything. That was where she came in. Her job as a forensic archaeologist was to go in, find evidence of what had happened, study evidence and if need be search for mass graves. Thankfully there had been no evidence of that just people suddenly gone. Dr. Kavanagh on the other hand had been sent in to study a power fluctuation that had been detected and the theory was it had caused the disappearance. She had disagreed; she had seen this before in a village in Africa. The UN had sent her in to investigate only to discover they had left the village because of increasing lion attacks and she had found evidence of that two miles outside of the village. It had not been pretty, but that was her job. Kavanagh had not liked being challenged which was why they had been put together on this mission. Dr. Weir 's thought was that if she sent them together that Kavanagh might be taught team work and humility?! They only thing she was going to teach if was how to fly off a cliff. Normally she was very tolerant of people but three days with him alone was enough to make her wish she had the conscience to leave him but that voice in her head told her otherwise.

"You're not even listening to me are you?!" Kavanagh interrupted her thoughts as they stopped in a clearing.

"No I tuned you out two days ago." She stated simply which earned her a sigh of disgust.

"This is not the way back to the stargate you know. If you would listen to me would be there by now." He grabbed her arm and spun her around. "It's this way." He said as he started to drag her back the way they had just come. She dug her heels in and jerked her arm away from his grasp.

"Listen to you?" She questioned hotly. "I have been listening to you for three days. Three days!" She poked a finger in his face to get her point across. "I'm done listening to you. In fact if I hadn't listened to you in the first place we wouldn't even be lost. So do us both a favor and shut it." He opened his mouth to argue with her but she held her hand up to stop him. "I dare you to say one word, just one." She glared at him daring him to say something which he thought better of and seemed to back off. She knew she had a scary temper but when you grew up with six older brothers you had to learn to be feisty to survive. Being a red head did not help either it was one of her down falls. She quickly turned away and started to the closest and highest tree and started to climb. Her idea was to climb as high as she could so that she could see the area and maybe find the stargate. She had done this on several occasions in the last three days and her mission was met with distain, again. She was about three fourths the ways up and trying not to slip on the wet when he shouted up to her.

"That's not going to work. You keep trying that and it doesn't work. You're not going to find the gate that way." She was getting really tired of his negative responsive and thought briefly about dropping something on his head. Instead she shouted down.

"At least it's better than walking in circles." She hiked herself up a few more inches and then stopped. Kavanagh shouted up to her when he heard her stop.

"Why did you stop, did you see something?"

"Quiet." She hissed down at him.

"You know I'm getting a little tired…" He started to say.

"Will you please, stop talking? Someone is coming." That got his attention as he looked up at her.

"What should I do?"

"Hide."

"Why?"

"Or don't, at this point I don't really care." She could hear him muddle something just as the jungle seem to come alive around them. She could hear her companion panic and dive for cover below the tree. She was basically clinging to the very slippery tree and praying it wasn't a wild animal or worse. Whatever had caused the village to disappear could very well be close by. She managed to wrap her legs and arms around a branch and hung there as whatever came out of the foliage and entered the clearing. Voices and they sounded familiar. She breathed a sigh of relief when she recognized the voices as the team she had originally come with. Finally help had arrived.

"I'm telling you my money is on Dr. Brennan. She's a feisty little thing and I don't see her putting up with Dr. Kavanagh for very long." The voice of Lt. Reed filtered through the trees. Reed was close to her age, very friendly and had introduced himself the first day she had arrived. He reminded her of her youngest brother Ben and the two of them had become fast friends. He would tell her about his girlfriend back home and she would talk about her childhood growing up in a foster home with six older foster brothers. It was nice to have someone to talk too when one was so far from home.

"I don't know Reed, Kavanagh could talk a bird into flying into a wall." Andrews added clearly not aware of what was above them in the tree. She started to shout down when another voice added to the discussion.

"Okay boys, let's focus on finding our wayward scientist and get back to the gate." Great it was him and his team. The one person she had been trying to avoid and it wasn't that she didn't like him; she did a little too much. It was the fact they had met once before a and he hadn't remembered her, but boy she had remembered him and how he had gotten her team out of a very tight spot in Africa about ten years ago. Needless to say it hadn't been her shining moment. She had just decided to shimmy down the tree when suddenly a yell came from beneath her at the base of the tree. She could hear weapons being drawn and the shifting of boots below.

"Oww, Kavanagh it's us. Are you trying to get shot?" Reed asked him.

"I thought you were something else. She kept saying something else might be out there." The doctor sounded almost panicky.

"What do you mean something?" Major Lorne asked and Kavanagh pointed up in the tree where she was.

"Ask her." She looked down to see four different faces looking up at her.

"You okay up there Doc.?" The Major asked with a look of amusement, just what she needed for him to take her as a joke.

"Yup." She answered.

"Hey Red what are you doing up there anyway?" Reed asked her.

"Oh, just getting a different prospective on things, you know taking in the scenery."

"I thought that maybe Kavanagh had driven you up the tree." Reed responded which earned him a glare from the opposing party.

"Hey, Doc you want to come down now so that we can take you home?" Lorne shouted up to her. She started to come down when all of a sudden a creature flew out at the branches at her. It looked to be a flying monkey-bird of sorts with some very sharp teeth. She screamed and covered her face which resulted in her letting go of the tree and falling. She was about four feet in the air before a vine caught her foot and she was suddenly hanging upside down in the tree.

"You have got to be kidding me!" She said as she hung there hanging back and forth.

"Hang in there doc, we're coming." Reed said and she thought she could hear a hint of laughter in her voice.

"Funny Reed, real funny."

"I told you not to go in the tree." Kavanagh responded starkly. Eyeing him as best as she could while hanging upside down she pointed at him.

"What did I tell you about talking?" She bit back as she reached up to unhook her foot.

"Let us help you there." Lorne said as he approached the tree just as her foot came lose and she fell the remaining distants from the tree and landing on her butt, hard.

She looked up and found Major Lorne reaching down and grasping her arm under her shoulder and pulling her to her feet.

"It seems to me that I'm always pulling you out of trouble Emma." He said with a teasing smile. Great, he really did remember her and here she was looking like a three day old drowned rat. What a great way to make an impression. Well at least it was somewhat better than last time. Maybe.


	2. Chapter 2

**So sorry it took me a while but real life kinda got in the way. Thanks for reading and I love reviews!**

Chapter Two

_Evan's POV_

He had first met Dr. Emma Brennan several years back in Africa. She was a forensic archaeologist working for the UN when she and her team had been caught in the middle of a fire fight. They had gone in to investigate a suicide bombing when some of the locals had gotten riled up. Needless to say he had been one of the pilots sent in to retrieve her and he had never forgotten the spunky little redhead. When she had first arrived in Atlantis he hadn't known how to approach her. He had seen her across the mess hall sitting with some of the other scientist and watched her as she had taken everything in. Her eyes followed around the room and finally had come to rest on his. He had purposely kept his face void of any reaction just to gage how she would react, that and he wasn't sure what to think. He had the sneaky suspicion that she had been avoiding him since her arrival. Why he wasn't so sure but here they were, he rescuing her, yet again. Not that he minded, she still had the same effect on him that she had then. He found it un nerving and he wasn't sure how he should feel about it.

She had just fallen from a tree at his feet before he could shake himself into acting and after pulling her up he couldn't help but tease her little. He watched as her face redden when he had used her name. Yup, defiantly a reaction, it almost startled him because he had made it his personal goal not to let himself become too attached anyone. With his job, his career and being on the edge of the universe made any kind of attachments, not a good idea. But she was strong, ready to take on the world and he had seen her cope with the unimaginable. He figured that was part of his fascination with her and maybe merited further thought. Right now however, they had to get back to the safety of Atlantis, which was about a day and a half walk back to the gate. When the two scientists had gone missing three days ago, he had been annoyed at first. Sometimes he had misgivings about taking scientists off world and felt nothing short of a glorified babysitter, but then annoyance quickly turned to concern when the team that had escorted them had come back with a wild tail. He still couldn't make much sense as to what really had happened; just that two scientist had disappeared into the jungle of a planet whose inhabitants had suddenly disappeared.

"So is this the rescue party?" She asked as she seem to quickly recover and gave him a half smile. "It's about time you showed up. I was beginning to think I was destined to wonder wonderland here for eternity with genius over there." She said with a trace of an accent and a nod in Dr. Kavanaghs direction. This earned her a scowl from the offended and a chuckle from Reed. She detached from his helping hand and seemed to mentally shake herself back into the here and now. Slightly disappointed that their "moment" had ended, he looked her over from head to toe.

"Are you okay Doc?" He asked her taking in various bumps and bruise and her sopping wet hair and attire.

"I'm fine by the Major. Thanks for asking." Kavanagh interrupted

"You're not the one who fell from a tree Kavanagh" Andrews bit back at him. Kavanagh had never been popular among the other members of the expedition and he wasn't making any friend right now. Lorne turned his attention back to Emma who was in the process of picking leaves from her hair and not meeting his gaze. She was hiding from him again and he was going to find out why, just not yet so he asked her again, this time gripping her arm slightly and pulling her around to face him.

"Hey, are you hurt?" She looked at him for a moment before she squared her shoulders and answered.

"No I'm not hurt, just pride." She pulled away from him and moved to sit on a fallen log not that far from them. He watched her with a puzzled look and then turned his attention back to the rest of the group.

"So what's our next move boss?" Reed asked him. The kid could be obnoxious but he was still a good soldier. The Major looked to the sky judging the rain before he made a decision.

"Well the gate is about a day and a half in that direction." He pointed off in the direction of the gate and noticed a smile of triumph on Emma's face. "So I suggest we get moving for a bit before we set up camp."

"What do you mean, a day and a half to the gate?" Kavanagh piped up. "Why didn't you bring a puddle jumper to pick us up?" Lorne took a step closer to the scientist before he answered.

"Where would you suggest we land it? You're in a jungle with thick vegetation and no place to land."

"But we have been wondering aimlessly for three days. Truthfully I'm tired of walking." Before the Major could respond however a very wet and apparently angry red head spoke up.

"You're tired! If you had listened to me in the first place we would have been home by now! If you had listened to me we wouldn't have been circling in the god forsaken jungle for three days!" She emphasized the point by pointing at a nearby tree. On closer inspection he noticed a notch had been cut into it. "I put that mark there in case we circled back. Guess what brainiac, we did!"

"Stop yelling at me" Kavanagh yelled back. "Why are you so angry?"

"Angry?! No, this is not angry. No no, this is far from angry honey. If you didn't have a stick so far up your…"

"All right Doc's, back to your respected corners." Lorne added in and he turned to Emma suppressing a smile. "Let's not say anything we might regret later. Now let's get moving and find a somewhat dry place to set up camp and by this time tomorrow we should be home safe and sound." He watched as her eyes narrowed a bit but she clamped her mouth shut tight. He suddenly had a twinge on uneasiness. Her temper was fierce and slightly scary, not that he would ever let on to that fact. He looked over at his men who seemed to avoid all contact and Reed who couldn't hold his grin. With a shake of his head and a sigh he motioned everyone to move on.

They had been traveling in an uncomfortable silence for a little bit when all of a sudden he felt more than saw Emma approach him on his left. He glanced at her but didn't slow his steps. She had to run a few steps to catch up and he could sense she wanted to say something but was struggling for words. He was just about to ask and ease her suffering when she finally spoke up.

"So listen, I usually can keep my temper in check." She paused and took a breath to continue but he stopped her.

"It's understandable. Being out here for that long can work on anyone's nerves." He gave her a little bit of a smile that she returned.

"None the less, I do apologize."

"Think nothing of it." He then bent down to speak in her ear. "If it's any consolation, Reed's money was always on you." This earned him a smile.

"And what about you?"

"I know better than to bet against you." Suddenly she grabbed his arm and stopped. He was suddenly on alert, bringing his gun up and scanning the area. His men beside him did the same thing, keeping the doctors between them. Her hand tightened on his arm and Kavanagh started to bark.

"What is it now?" His impatience was starting to become an issue with him and he felt sympathy for anyone stuck with him for any length of time. He was about to shush him when she spoke.

"Listen." He heard nothing.

"What are we supposed to be listening for?" Kavanagh asked

"It's quiet." Lorne responded knowing what she was getting at.

"Too quiet." She added nodding her head in agreement.

"So." The negative voice in the group added.

"So…" She started "It's a jungle and we don't even hear a bird. That usually means a predator is in the area. I have a feeling that's why the villagers disappeared."

"I think you're crazy." The other doctor responded putting him even further on edge. "You have been saying for days that something was out there and I still haven't seen it."

"Crazy or not there is something out there and if you move any more you're going to go over that ledge." Emma added as they all turned their attention at Kavanagh who was standing very close to a very sheer drop off, he on the other didn't seem to notice and went to voice his disconnect when Emma took a step closer to Kavanagh he seemed to flinch away as she went to grab his arm.

"You really are crazy, you know that." He hoped away from her and she suddenly froze as low roar suddenly filled the silence of jungle. Lorne watched Emma wobble for a moment and he went to grab her just as the ground gave way and she disappeared over the edge in the throes of a mud slide.

**Uh-oh, poor Emma, let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**So let me know what you think and thanks so much for reading**

Chapter Three

_Emma's POV_

The first thing she noticed was the slight shift in the ground beneath her feet. The next thing she noticed was that she was free falling with a whole lot of mud. The last thing she noticed was the over whelming urge to kill him, oh yes a dead man walking. She continued to slip and slid the whole length of the cliff, hiding her face in her arms she couldn't even catch her breathe long enough to let out a yell. She felt her already bruised and battered body being thrown around like a rag doll and being covered in mud. Somehow she avoided being hit by any trees and she suddenly felt herself being shot out into open space and fall straight down into an already increasing pile of mud. She landed; once again on her butt, hard and continued to get a shower of mud and debris onto her head. How long she sat there, she didn't really know but it seemed to be forever. When she finally felt more than heard the mud stop, she uncovered her head. She was sitting in mud up to her waist and had mud in every orifice, in spots she didn't even know she had. She uncovered her head and started to shake the excess mud from her arms, head and anywhere else she could reach. Yes, she was defiantly going to kill him, slowly. She cranked her head to look up from where she fell and wished she hadn't, she was lucky to have survived at all and could see the long trail of mud that had led to her current condition. Shaking her head she began to make plans on how to make it out. The mud was sticky which made standing up extremely difficult and the only way she could get out was to crawl and dig, very ungracefully. Maybe later on this whole ordeal could be funny but right now she was full of hot white rage directed at one person. In truth he was just looking to direct her anger because this was the sort of thing that happened to her. She always was finding different ways to land in trouble and her she was yet again in trouble.

She grabbed on to a nearby hanging branch and started to slowly pull herself from the mud pit, inch by inch until she could finally pull herself out. She than used a nearby tree to steady herself and pulled into a standing position. That was when she noticed the ever familiar sharp pain in her right knee. It was an old injury and a reminder of a memory she would rather forget. She could barely put weight on it and cursed under her breath. She must have wrenched it in the fall and waited a few minutes to try and push pressure on it. Still hurt but a little better, maybe. She went to step away from the tree, took a few steps and discovered her knee wouldn't bend; she ended up once again on the jungle floor. Perfect, she thought to herself. She really was proving that she was graceful. Once again she pulled herself up into a sitting position and tried to wipe off most of the mud. The weight of it was making difficult to move, that and it was starting to dry and crack. She glanced around at her surroundings hoping that someone would come and find her soon. She was a little spooked to being alone out here when she knew a predator was still out there. It hadn't made its appearance yet but she knew it was there. She could almost feel its eyes watching her and being out in the open made her feel vulnerable. She needed to find a place to lay low with some kind of shelter. She quickly scanned the area and found she was next to a stream and not too far from that was a small yet protective over crop of rocks, almost a cave. Now all she had to do was get herself over there and wait for help which she knew was on its way, again. It seemed that all Major Lorne did was rescue her; a girl could get a complex. Then again, she could do worse and she had done worse at least the major had a strong sense of right and wrong. This was something she found so little of in her life and in her line of work.

She decided to once again try to stand and maybe make her way to her newly found shelter. To get there however she had to cross the tiny stream, which wouldn't be a bad idea. Maybe there she could wash off some of this mud and in the process regain some of her dignity. It had been an adventurous three days to say the least and she suddenly grew weary and tired but she pulled herself up, winced at the pain in her knee and slowly dragged herself to the stream. She found a spot where she could almost sit and began splashing the cool water on her face and arms and it was a welcome relief. She was debating rather to take off her boots which were full of mud, when she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She was being watched, stalked and her senses suddenly went on alert. She made no move to indicate she knew and continued with her task of cleaning off the mud but in the process she retrieved a small knife from her boot. It had been a gift from one of her brothers who always seemed to be worrying about her. She turned her head slightly and what she saw made her gasp slightly. In the trees she found a pair of eyes watching her. They were almost hypnotic and were a very light glowing blue, almost white. She started at it and it stared at her. She was almost too scared to move, even though all she saw were its eyes, she guessed from the size of the eyes this creature was not only big but tall and she would have no change at survival of any kind. She gripped her knife tightly and slowly inched herself out into the water. She was about half way across when the bottom left her and she discovered the stream was a lot deeper than she had first thought and she was up to her chin in the chilly water. At that moment the creature let out the most horrific screech which she had to cover her ears and just as she could hear it burst through the forest she took a deep breath and dove under the water. She guided herself to the bottom of the murky water and felt along the bottom for a place to hold herself. She found a heavy rock and wrapped her arms and legs around it so that she wouldn't float back to the top and she looked up. She noticed the shadow of something very large hovering just above the surface and then it seemed to disappear in a jerky motion. Hoping and praying something had spooked it of she let go of the rock because she was running out of air. She made her way to the surface she was just about to break through the water when something from behind her grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled her up. Despite her injury, her survival instincts kicked in and she started twisting, kicking clawing and scratching her way out only to have a very strong set of arms come around her pinning her to a solid chest. She was facing out ready to start screaming, for that was all she had left, when a very commanding yet soothing voice started talking to her.

"Hey, hey Doc, it's me." Major Lorne had once again had come to her rescue and she nearly collapsed from relief. His grip on her loosened a bit and he turned her around to face him. She took in the scene around her, Lt Reed was in the water up to his boots, Andrews and Kavanagh where on the shore, while she and the Major where up to their waist in the cold wet stream. He had spun her around but never loosened his grip on her arms. He was looking at her with such concern and kindness that she almost burst into tears but she managed to container herself. No scenes in making a bigger fool of herself and she slowly regained her composure. She saw no sign of the beast and gave a slight sigh of relief. Lorne looked at her once again before asking her. "Are you alright?"

"We heard your monster Doc and got her quick as we could." Reed added "Did you see it?"

She shook her head at the memory.

"I didn't see it clearly but it was here and big. I dove in the water to get away from it." She let out a little shiver and Lorne immediately let go of one of her arms and wrapped it around her.

"Okay, let's get you out of her." He said as he started to lead her from the water but her injured knee prevented her from moving very much and she almost fell again. "You're hurt." He said more as a statement rather than a question. She shook her head and responded.

"It's an old injury that I aggravated when I fell." His response was to pick her up out of the water and carry her to shore and she felt her dignity slip even more. She hadn't even time to protest and all she could do was wrap her arms around his neck and she felt her face grow hot. She also knew she was bright red, not only because Reed was laughing at her, Andrews discretely looked away and Kavanagh just looked annoyed. Yup dignity gone, out the window. How did she ever get herself into these situations? Yet her she was once again and she was having a hard time breathing being this close, he on the other hand didn't have to look so amused about the whole situation as he sat her down on a rock and knelt in front of her grabbing her lag in his hands.

"What are you doing?" She asked him suspiciously. He glanced up at her, his face void any readable emotion except for the slight twinkle in his eyes. He was truly enjoying her discomfort but was trying very hard to hide it.

"Just checking you for injuries. We can't get you out of here if I don't know the extent." He felt around the joint of her knee and frowned slightly as she gasped and tried to pull it away from her. "Yeah, don't think we are going anywhere tonight. It's getting dark and we still need to climb back up. You're not going very far on that knee." He then stood up to face his men and Dr. Kavanagh who had a look of anguish on his face.

"You mean we have to stay here, with that monster on the loose." He had already started to complain and Emma saw that Lorne was trying very hard not to hurt the man and she found a bit of satisfaction in that small fact and couldn't quite help egging him on a little. It was after all his fault she had fallen and she wasn't above torturing him for a bit.

"I thought you didn't believe in my monster Doctor. I've been telling you for days that it's been out there and you now decide to believe me." She gave a bit of a sarcastic laugh. "You really are a whole new kind of genius aren't you? It's gone for now, it was spooked off. I have a feeling it won't come back tonight." She was so occupied with talking back to the doctor it barely registered that the major had been busy wrapping her knee. She couldn't fault him for being quick and efficient.

"I still think you're crazy."

"Think what you want, do you really want to test it. Go ahead, go for a walk in the jungle, see if it can find, test to see if I know what I'm talking about because it's out there and it's waiting. Maybe it's waiting for you." She really strongly disliked this man and was at her wits end where he was concerned.

"You know you could be nicer to me. I am the one who let you come you know."

"Oh please someone let me drown him or hurt him in some way. I am begging you!" Kavanagh was about to respond but before anything else could be said the major once again played the diplomat putting his hand up to get their attention.

"Okay, you two, we need to call off this battle for the time being. We are stuck here for the night, with each other, get used to it." He directed the last comment at Kavanagh. "Boys we need to set up a perimeter and are on watch all night and we need to find a shelter before it gets much darker. We will get out of here but not until morning. And Doc we can't let you do bodily harm no matter how much it is warranted." Emma took a deep breath to calm her rage and pointed in the direction she had been heading in before the great beast decided to check her out.

"There is an out crop of rocks on the other side of the stream. I was trying to head that way. It looks almost cave like." Lorne nodded to him and bent down to grasp her wait so that she could put her arm over his shoulders and use him as a crutch which was very awkward considering she was what you would call vertically challenged, but somehow he made it work. After what seemed to be a life time they made it to her cave which was more spacious then they had originally thought. After they had gotten everyone and everything settled she was once again let alone with her wart. It was easier to think of him that way.

"You know Dr. Brennan I think I know why you don't like me." Oh boy this ought to be good. "You're intimidated by my superior intellect."

"What?!"

"Just so you know you're on your own with that one Kavanagh" Andrews piped in. Reed just looked away and Lorne looked on wide eyed and very concerned.

"No, it's true and I'm used to it." She looked at from Kavanagh to Lorne as if to ask permission to beat the stuffing out of him. He made no move to stop her.

"Are you calling me stupid?"

"Now Sweetheart we can't all be good at everything." She felt red hot rage at that moment, mentally counted to two and leaned against the wall of the cave so that she could yank her boots from her feet, which were still full of mud and water, and promptly dumped both boots empty onto his head which earned her a screech which filled the jungle silent and a look of hatred in her direction. She turned her back, limped back to the other side of the cave, threw her long wet, red braid behind her and bit back.

"Do not call me sweetheart!"


	4. Chapter 4

**So sorry it took me so long to update. Hopefully I can stay on top of this one now. Thanks for the patience and PLEASE REVIEW!**

Chapter Four:

_Evan's POV_

Holy hell she was scary and not much scared him. After the instance with Kavanagh getting a mud bath and stalking off like a wounded puppy, he watched as she carefully lay down and almost instantly fell asleep. At least he thought she was asleep. She had had a rough couple of days and was probably going on very little sleep but he had learned he really didn't want to be on her bad side. He needed to get her out of her for all of their sakes. He wasn't sure if Kavanagh would even make it out alive the way he was going. He smiled a little at the thought of the doctor going toe to toe with the red haired little spit fire. Reed had been right to put his money on her.

He gave his men standing orders on who was standing watch first and who would be scouting the outlining area. He then approached her sleeping form to see if she was okay and noticed her shivering in the cooling night air. True they were in a jungle and it was indeed warm, she was soaking wet and had been covered in mud and the temperature had dropped rather quickly. So he took off his jacket and gently laid it over her sleeping form. He resisted the urge to brush a wet strand of hair away from his face instead focusing on pulling his jacket up around her shoulders. He was beginning to regret his attachment to her but had an over whelming sense and need to protect her. This was never a good thing considering how dangerous his job was. Still he had always been drawn to her, her fiery personality and tenacity.

"Sir, the perimeter is secure." Reed said coming up behind him. Lorne turned around to face his young team member and gave him a nod.

"All right then, why don't you take the first watch then." Reed nodded his head in understanding.

"Is she alright?" He asked

"I think so but we need to get her out of here come first light." He then turned his attention back to the occupants in the cave as Reed started his watch. Lorne sat down near the mouth of the cave and leaned his head back against the wall. He positioned himself so that he could keep an eye on her but also so that he could see out into the jungle. He needed to get some kind of sleep but found that he could not turn off his head. The thought of being caught off guard by whatever creature was hiding out there was enough to make anyone antsy. At that moment Dr. Kavanagh made a reappearance, a little less muddy but no less angry. He watched as the angry doctor looked around their small night time accommodations with a look of total disgust which became worse as his eyes landed of Emma's sleeping form. He took a step forward and then stopped as he notice Lorne's position.

"Problem Doc?" He asked him as his eyes narrowed for a moment and seemed to melt back into the darkness on the other side of the cave. Seems he thought better about opening his mouth. Apparently the tiny redhead to his left had left him speechless. Even couldn't help but chuckle a little bit at the situation. Not many could bring Kavanagh to silence. It was kind of nice to see someone put him in his place.

A few hours later something shook his awake. Years of training had him reaching for his weapon and shaking himself fully awake to find Reed looking down at him. He realized that it was his time for watch and glanced over to where Emma was sleeping only to find her missing. He looked at Reed for confirmation only to have him nod his head in her new direction.

"She woke up about an hour ago and has been starting at that back wall ever sense. I think she found something." The major got to his feet and looked toward her.

"Everything else quiet?" He asked the young man as he nodded his head

"Andrews just did a sweep and nothing is in the area."

"Alright Reed, why don't you try to get some shut eye. I have a feeling it's going to be a very long day."

"Yes sir." As he turned to walk away, Lorne turned his attention back to the lovely little doctor. Her back was to him and she had pulled her arms through the sleeves of his jacket. Her hair, which she had taken out of the braid, settled in unruly waves around her shoulders. The moon light on her hair gave her an innocent and almost angelic look to her. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. This was not good. He told himself not to get distracted but he knew he had to ask what she was up to. He came up behind her and glanced over her shoulder. She had a sketch pad in one and she was feverishly sketching something into the tablet. She was so into what she was doing that she hadn't even heard him come up behind her until he spoke to her in a low voice.

"Hey Doc, what do you go there?" She slightly jumped and looked up at him in the dim light and he felt his breath catch in his throat. He really needed to get a grip. Her hair circled her face like a fiery halo and he had a pair of glasses perched on the end of her nose. She had a tired look in her eyes but an odd sort of excitement seemed to sparkle in them. She seemed almost childlike. She seemed to regain her compositor and she straightened her spine and looked from him and back to the wall in front of her nodding in its direction.

"I couldn't sleep. All I was doing was staring at the wall and that was when I noticed these." Once he glanced at the walls he saw what had caught her eyes. Drawing covered most of the south wall and up on the ceiling. They were very elaborate and seemed to tell a story. What, he wasn't sure and before he could ask she continued. "It's the story of a village that disappeared once before. Something about a creature of darkness coming and taking their most precious resource and then the story just ends. There is no ending it just stops; it's as if they couldn't finish it." She looked up at him then and continued. "I think this happened again, whatever it is and whatever that creature is, caused it somehow. The people here have dealt with this before."

Do you think its wraith related?" He asked her as he knelt down beside her so that he could see her drawing better. She shrugged her shoulders and continued.

"I suppose it's possible."

"But you don't think so."

"No, not really. I think it's something more and different." He looked over at her and noticed her she seemed to be staring off in the distance and lost in thought. He started to grow concern. Maybe she had hit her head during the fall and he gripped her shoulder lightly to grab her attention.

"Hey, Emma. You still with me?" She turned her attention back to him and suddenly looked frightened.

"I don't think we are alone anymore." She whispered in the dark and he jerked his head up in the direction that she had been staring at. That was when a dark shadow suddenly seemed to loom over them and an ear splitting screech echoed through the jungle. The predator had returned for it's pray.


End file.
